Meta Offers $100M to Poach OpenAI Talent? & Nippon Closes $14B US Steel Deal

Summary

Morning Brew Daily: Episode Summary

Title: Meta Offers $100M to Poach OpenAI Talent? & Nippon Closes $14B US Steel Deal
Host/Authors: Neal Freyman and Toby Howell
Release Date: June 19, 2025

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1. Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rates Steady

Timestamp: [03:00] Neal Freyman

Today's episode opens with an in-depth discussion about the Federal Reserve's recent decision to keep interest rates unchanged. Despite mounting pressure from President Trump, who has publicly criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell—calling him a "numbskull" and "stupid person"—the Fed remains steadfast. Neal Freyman humorously remarks, "First of all, how many metaphors do you have left for how to explain how the Fed is not doing anything?" highlighting the perceived inaction.

Key Points:

• Economic Indicators: The May CPI report indicates that inflation is cooling, hovering around the lowest level since 2021, though still above the Fed's 2% target. Additionally, the job market shows signs of weakening, with slower hiring rates and a slight uptick in unemployment filings.
• Market Reactions: The Fed's decision to hold rates is influenced by ongoing uncertainty, including the impact of President Trump's tariffs and geopolitical tensions, such as the Israel-Iran conflict.
• Fed's Outlook: Powell stated, "We are in a healthy economy," justifying the decision to maintain current rates while acknowledging that tariffs could eventually lead to increased inflation.
• Economic Forecasts: The Fed has adjusted its projections, raising the median inflation estimate for the end of 2025 to 3% from 2.7% and lowering the economic growth forecast for the remainder of the year from 1.7% to 1.4%.

Timestamp: [05:08] Toby Howell

Toby Howell adds context by noting, "Overall, a lot has changed since the Fed last met," including new tax and spending bills in Congress and geopolitical developments. He underscores the continued uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook, reinforcing the Fed's cautious approach.

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2. Nippon Completes $14 Billion Acquisition of U.S. Steel with Golden Share Provision

Timestamp: [06:00] Neal Freyman

In a monumental deal, Nippon Steel has finalized its $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, making it the world's second-largest steelmaker. This takeover faced initial resistance, with former President Biden blocking the deal on national security grounds. However, under President Trump, the deal gained approval with a unique twist: the U.S. government retains a "golden share."

Key Points:

• Golden Share Explained: As Neal states, "A golden share... gives Trump a say in major decisions such as employee salaries, board composition, plant closures, name changes, headquarters locations, and a lot more." This unprecedented move in the U.S. allows the government significant control over the company’s operations.
• Government’s Role: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick spearheaded this initiative, introducing concepts typically seen in other countries, such as sovereign wealth funds, to safeguard national interests.
• Implications for Foreign Investment: Toby Howell raises concerns, noting, "This injects a lot of uncertainty. If the US government gets involved like this, it might deter foreign investors from engaging with American companies."
• Economic Impact: The acquisition brings a crucial cash infusion of $11 billion into U.S. operations by 2028, vital for U.S. Steel's survival and growth.

Timestamp: [10:11] Toby Howell

Toby delves deeper into the potential long-term consequences of the golden share, elaborating on how it might set a precedent for future foreign investments and the ongoing debate over government intervention in private enterprises.

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3. Meta’s Aggressive Recruitment Strategy to Poach OpenAI Talent

Timestamp: [12:30] Neal Freyman

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has reportedly been offering signing bonuses up to $100 million to lure OpenAI employees to his company. However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reveals that these attempts have so far been unsuccessful, with none of their top talent accepting the offers.

Key Points:

• OpenAI’s Stance: Sam Altman stated, "So far none of our best people have decided to take them up on that," casting doubt on the feasibility of Meta’s aggressive recruitment tactics.
• Meta’s Challenges: Toby Howell comments, "It is fascinating though I wonder if the truth is somewhere in the middle," suggesting that while high-profile offers are made, not all top talent may be swayed purely by financial incentives.
• Altman's Critique: Altman criticizes Meta's approach, stating, "I don't think they're a company that's great at innovation," and accuses Meta of being "copycats," which undermines their efforts to compete in the AI arms race.

Timestamp: [13:05] Toby Howell

Toby interprets Altman's comments, highlighting the strategic messaging behind declaring that none of OpenAI's best have transitioned, thereby implying that those who might leave are motivated by financial gain rather than a desire to join Meta’s initiatives.

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4. Neil’s Numbers: Key Statistics Highlighting Market Trends

Timestamp: [13:57] Neal Freyman

In the "Neil’s Numbers" segment, Neal shares three significant statistics that shed light on current market dynamics.

a. Regin Cell Bioscience's Explosive Stock Surge Timestamp: [16:00] Neal Freyman

Regin Cell Bioscience, a Hong Kong-based biotech startup, has seen its stock soar by an astonishing 46,000% within the year, despite having no revenue and all products still in the R&D phase.

• Stock Dynamics: "Shares of a Hong Kong based biotech startup have shot up 46,000% this year," Neal notes, comparing it to an extreme version of a meme stock.
• Market Mechanisms: Toby Howell explains, "Only 30 million of its 500 million outstanding shares are available to be traded," indicating a low float, which, combined with a near 100% short interest, likely contributed to a short squeeze driving the stock price to astronomical heights.

b. Office Market Transformation Timestamp: [18:00] Neal Freyman

The U.S. office market is experiencing a significant shift, with more office space being removed than added for the first time in 25 years.

• Demolition vs. Construction: "23.3 million square feet of space will be demolished or transformed to other uses by the end of this year," Neal reports, compared to 12.7 million square feet of new construction.
• Conversion Trends: Toby highlights the acceleration in converting office spaces to apartments, driven by government incentives and changing market demands following the remote work trend.

c. Escalating Costs of Sports Fandom Timestamp: [20:30] Neal Freyman

Being a dedicated Red Sox fan has become prohibitively expensive, with total costs reaching $800 in 2025—a 262% increase over the past two decades.

• Cost Breakdown: Neal references a New York Times op-ed by June Lee, which argues that the fragmentation of streaming services has made accessing live sports increasingly costly.
• Community Impact: Toby discusses how these rising costs are fracturing the communal aspect of sports fandom, previously a unifying public good, into an exclusive, profit-driven endeavor.

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5. Final Headlines

Timestamp: [24:00] Toby Howell & Neal Freyman

Wrapping up the episode, Neal and Toby cover two additional news items of significance.

a. Waymo’s Expansion into New York City with Driverless Taxis

• Regulatory Hurdles: While Waymo aims to reintroduce its autonomous taxis to NYC, current state laws require a human driver in the vehicle. The company is actively lobbying for regulatory changes and seeking permits for fully driverless operations.
• Operational Challenges: Neal notes, "the street grid here is certainly more complicated," acknowledging the technical and logistical challenges Waymo faces in navigating New York's dense urban environment.

b. Copenhagen Tops Global Livability Rankings

• New Rankings: Copenhagen has been named the world's most livable city for 2025 by the Economist Intelligence Unit, surpassing Vienna after a three-year tenure.
• U.S. Standing: No American city breaks into the top 10, with Honolulu ranking the highest among U.S. cities at 23rd.
• Global Perspective: Toby emphasizes that smaller cities typically rank higher due to easier management and control, with Tokyo being the only major U.S. city that made an appearance, securing the 13th spot.

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Conclusion

Neal Freyman and Toby Howell provide a comprehensive and engaging overview of today's key economic and technological developments, blending insightful analysis with notable commentary. From the Fed’s cautious stance amidst political pressures to significant corporate maneuvers in the AI and steel industries, and from explosive stock market phenomena to the evolving dynamics of sports and urban livability, this episode of Morning Brew Daily offers listeners a rich tapestry of the latest business news and trends.

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For more insights and updates, tune into Morning Brew Daily on your preferred podcast platform or via YouTube.

Transcript

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[Neal Freyman]

Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.

[Toby Howell]

And I'm Toby Howell.

[Neal Freyman]

Today you'll never believe how much Zuck is offering OpenAI employees to change sides.

[Toby Howell]

Then the Fed held interest rates steady as she goes, much to the President's chagrin. It's Thursday, June 19th. Let's ride.

[Neal Freyman]

Good morning. Today is Juneteenth, the newest federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery following the Civil War, specifically the day enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned they were free two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The stock market is closed and maybe your office is, too, so we hope you enjoyed the day off if you have one. Morning Brew told us not to work today, so we we actually taped this yesterday afternoon right after the fed meeting about 3pm Eastern time, which we'll get to in just a second.

[Toby Howell]

And since we are off on Thursday, that means you get a special Friday episode as well, where we interviewed a marketing expert who talked to us about some recent branding snafus like HBO Max changing its name a billion times and whatever the heck Apple was doing with liquid glass. So if you've ever seen a rebrand or a new logo from a company and thought, what in the world were they thinking? Tune into our show on Friday. But back to Thursday. And back to a word from our sponsor, Amazon Ads. Neil, you ever try to cook something without tasting it along the way?

[Neal Freyman]

Toby, who do you think I am? Of course I tasted throughout. That's how to avoid serving surprise soup, which is never a good surprise.

[Toby Howell]

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[Neal Freyman]

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[Toby Howell]

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[Neal Freyman]

Let's guessing tastier results.

[Toby Howell]

Gain the edge with Amazon ads by going to advertising.Amazon.com/start now. That's advertising.Amazon.com start now. The Fed is acting a lot like your deadbeat boyfriend when it comes to doing the dishes and not really doing much of anything at all. Jerome Powell and co left interest rates unchanged as the Fed continues to weigh the impact of President Trump's tariffs, much to the chagrin of President Trump, who has called Powell a numbskull and a stupid person in recent days due to his reluctance to lower rates. Trump's ire is supported by recent data drops. May's CPI report showed price increases are leveling off, with inflation now hovering around its lowest level since 2021, though it's still above the Fed's 2% target. The job market is also showing signs of weakness, with hiring in May slowing from the month prior and unemployment filings creeping up, though again still near historic lows. Another data point that is shaking the Fed's wait and see approach is the retail spending data we got on Wednesday, which showed that people are reining in their spending, but most analysts agree it's simply too soon to lower rates because you still have to wait for tariffs to filter through the economy, given that most businesses were able to front load purchases and and dodge some import duties. Now, the Fed said in a statement on Wednesday that uncertainty about the economic outlook had diminished but remains elevated, which is another way of saying we ain't doing anything.

[Neal Freyman]

First of all, how many metaphors do you have left for how to explain how the Fed is not doing anything? I mean, you're scraping the bottom of the killing, still doing well. Yeah, Powell once again is not doing anything. He's in that wait and see pattern and that is because I listened to his press conference just now. He he said that tariffs were not showing up yet in the recent inflation reports, which were much cooler, but they could show up going forward. There is a elevated degree of uncertainty, he said. Someone's got to pay for the tariffs and there are pretty very high tariffs on imports right now, the highest level we've seen in a century. Someone is going to pay for those. He he mentioned that companies had stockpiled goods before the tariffs went into effect, but ultimately the inflation will rise. They don't know how much it's going to rise or whether it'll be permanent or temporary. And that's why they're just standing pat. Even though Powell did stress that inflation was cooling, which was great, and the labor market, despite maybe showing some cracks, is still going strong. So overall, he said, we're in a healthy economy, and that justifies our sit back and wait approach.

[Toby Howell]

Overall, though, a lot has changed since the Fed last met. I mean, there obviously is the tariff announcement in pauses, but also there's been this introduction of this huge tax and spending bill in Congress that is currently still making its way through the Houses. And most recently, there's been this outbreak of fighting between Israel and Iran. So there is a lot going on that the policymakers have to weigh. And so standing pat seems to make sense, but you kind of hit the nail on the head. In a lot of ways, the situation is relatively similar to what it was three months ago. Unemployment is still low, the jobs market is still pretty stable. Inflation is still cooling. But. But there still is that injection of uncertainty, which is why rates aren't going anywhere. Despite, you know, Trump's wishes, the Fed.

[Neal Freyman]

Did update their economic forecast and their inflation forecast, which we should mention, they raised their median estimate for inflation at the end of 2025 to 3% from 2.7%. So they forecast inflation will be a little bit higher. And then when it comes to economic growth, they lowered their forecast for economic growth for the rest of the year from 1.7% to 1.4%. You pull on different levers in order to lower inflation and boost growth. One leads to suggests that you should cut rates, the other suggests that you should raise rates, which again, leads to this particular stuck in the mud situation that we have here. But like the takeaway from the Fed meeting, I think is that the labor that Jerome Powell sees the labor market as healthier than maybe most analysts are looking at right now. And he just doesn't any pushback on Trump criticism, saying, hey, look, we're all in this for the same thing, is to keep the US Economy chugging along. And that's what me and all my central bank buddies are doing. And so he can criticize us all we want, and that is our goal and we're just going to stick to that. After a year and a half in limbo, Nippon closed its $4.9 billion takeover of U.S. steel on Wednesday, forming the second biggest steelmaker in the world. And it was a journey that would make even Frodo tired months Ago, former President Biden blocked the deal, saying that a Japanese company shouldn't be able to control an American industrial icon that makes a product crucial to national security. Trump came into office and was also against the deal until he wasn't and gave it the green light. So what changed? As a precondition of the takeover, the US Government was handed a so called golden share in the new company. An unusual arrangement that gives Trump a say in major decisions such as employee salaries, board composition, plant closures, name changes, headquarters locations, and a lot more. While other countries have employed golden shares before, like the UK and France, it hasn't been used in the United States. And some libertarian critics say this level of government control could set a worrying precedent for foreign companies investing in the United States. Whatever you think of a golden share, the deal is a big win for U.S. steel, which was treading water and needed a buyer to stay afloat. As part of the deal, Nippon will invest an additional $11 billion in its U.S. operations by 2028, a much needed cash infusion.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, this perpetual golden share is the real story here because it's not just the Trump administration, it's all, all in administrations going forward who will now have a share over U.S. steel. And U.S. steel is a very, you know, hot button company in American industry. One, because, you know, steel is a very important industry. But two, it's a swing states located in Pennsylvania. So you can imagine that future administrations might want to play around with that golden share. By the way, how do you even grant a golden share? You get granted a class of preferred stock called class gg, as in gold. There's only one of them out there doesn't actually give you equity in the company. It's not about monetary gain, it's about control. And that is what the US now has. And you mentioned foreign investors. They're looking at this saying, is this just a one time thing? Is this just a US Steel thing? Or are we going to have to kind of play ball with the government every time we come in and try to take over a US Company? So that injects a lot of uncertainty. Right now, the word we're getting out of the White House is this is just a one time thing. But it's, it injects that layer of, oh, no, I don't know if I want to do business with the United States anymore, if their government's going to get involved like this.

[Neal Freyman]

And the US Government has criticized other countries that took a golden share in their own national champions in the past. Countries like Brazil, which owns A stake in the planemaker Embraer, which is their national champion. China has an indirect stake in ByteDance, which is TikTok's parent company. The UK has done this. It has a golden share in the defense company BA Systems. And the United States has said, guys, what are we doing here? Like we trying to invest in your government is coming in, taking control of the company and making all these decisions that we think are better left to corporate decision makers. And now Howard Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary has really been the architect behind this golden share. And he's sort of staked a path for himself in this administration by thinking a little outside the box and looking to other countries, what they're doing and saying, hey, why don't we do this here in the United States? So you. He implemented this golden share idea. He has also introduced the concept of a sovereign wealth fund, which for the United States, which I guess is being worked through, that has been typically the domain of other countries. So Ludnick has certainly shaken things up.

[Toby Howell]

I guess the positive spin on the golden share idea is that it could facilitate more foreign investment in the US if it is a sector like something of national interest, one is maybe critical minerals. So if you want to share shore up your critical supply chains, it might make sense to have the government involved. And that may make you feel better as an investor because they're like, oh, they will want this to succeed because it aligns with their national interests. So potentially that is where you could see people advocating for this. But most people say that America does not typically operate like this. Corporate decision makers should have more interest over these deals and not the U.S. government.

[Neal Freyman]

And we can't leave this story without mentioning one casualty of the takeover, which is that US Steel shares stop trading on the New York Stock Exchange as of Wednesday. And why is that a big deal? Because U.S. steel is has probably one of the best tickers on the entire stock exchange. It is just the letter X, no Hotel Elon Musk.

[Toby Howell]

He's going to find out a way to get that in trade his companies public under that ticker.

[Neal Freyman]

All right, moving on. Mark Zuckerberg has been calling up OpenAI employees and offering them signing bonuses of up to $100 million if they switch teams. And they're saying no. That's according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who on his brother's podcast this week dropped jaws by revealing that Mehta was trying to poach his employees with nine figure offers and even bigger annual compensation packages. However, Altman said, so far none of our best People have decided to take them up on that which simply doesn't check out because what person ever would turn down $100 million? Altman spilling the tea seemed to confirm recent reports that a frustrated Zuckerberg was taking it upon himself to assemble a new AI superintelligence team meant to help Metta catch up to rivals in the high stakes AI arms race this spring. Metta has lost high profile talent and delayed launches of new models, spurring Zuck to launch a personal recruitment effort to get the ship back. On track. To all this, Altman said game respects game. He told his brother, I've heard that Metta thinks thinks of us as their biggest competitor. Their current AI efforts have not worked out as well as they have hoped and I respect being aggressive and continuing to try new things.

[Toby Howell]

I think Altman's a word choice here was very specific because he said that none of his best people had taken up Zuckerberg on his offer. So I think we're seeing pretty high level people management here because by saying none of your best people are leaving, he's implying that anyone who does go is in fact not one of his best people. And the people who do go are almost like mercenaries motivated by money. So there's like this meta game going on as Metta is trying to recruit their people. It is fascinating though I wonder if the truth is somewhere in the middle that maybe not everyone has said no or maybe people aren't getting these, you know, nine figure packages because it does seem hard to comprehend someone saying no to $100 million signing bonus with additional pay package on top of that after you sign.

[Neal Freyman]

Yeah, I mean we've only seen this in the world of like baseball or Elon Musk pay packages. It's kind of insane. Altman did have some choice words for meta though. Maybe what I mentioned a part of the podcast that he was being a little nice to Metta, but he also knocked them. He said that he disagreed with this concept of a ton of upfront guaranteed comp. And he also criticized Metta. He said I don't think they're a company that's great at innovation. He accused them of copying OpenAI and said, you know, I think Zuckerberg and Metta, which has been a criticism that's been lobbed at them for years as not being a particularly innovative company but just being really good copycats. We've seen that time and time again as they've just kind of copied every single update that Snap has rolled out or Tik Tok. So he said this is sort of a loser strategy here. OpenAI we're in the driver's seat.

[Toby Howell]

Up next, we got Neil's numbers.

[Neal Freyman]

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[Toby Howell]

Absolutely. That ad for a lawnmower, as someone who lives in a yardless New York City apartment, definitely wasn't meant for me.

[Neal Freyman]

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[Toby Howell]

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[Neal Freyman]

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[Toby Howell]

Try it out for yourself. LinkedIn will even give you a $100 credit. To help you get started, just go to LinkedIn.commbd that's LinkedIn.commbd.

[Neal Freyman]

Hey Toby, would you want to hear Amy Poehler speak at a conference?

[Toby Howell]

Does the Pope have a balcony?

[Neal Freyman]

I think so.

[Toby Howell]

He does. Neil.

[Neal Freyman]

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[Toby Howell]

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[Neal Freyman]

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[Toby Howell]

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[Neal Freyman]

If you're interested, head to inbound.com/register and use code Morning Brew 10. That's inbound.com/register welcome to Neil's Numbers, the segment where I share three stats from the week's news that will give you plenty of material for that awkward first five minutes of your zoom meeting. For my first number, shares of a Hong Kong based biotech startup have shot up 46,000% this year. Like a meme stock on steroids, a bewildering rally made even crazier than by the fact that it has zero revenue. Regin Cell Bioscience says it uses traditional herb centric Chinese medicine techniques to treat neurological disorders like ADHD and autism. Yet its treatments are still in the R and D stage and according to a filing released Last year. It's not particularly commercial ready, the company wrote. We have not generated revenue from any TCM formula candidates or applied for any regulatory approvals, nor have distribution capabilities or experience or any granted patents or pending patent applications and may never be profitable. That doesn't stop investors from sending its stock skyward from a market cap of $53 million a year ago to over $30 billion now. That makes it worth more than Lululemon, ebay and Kraft Heinz Red and sell. Stock surge is reminiscent of another Hong Kong based fintech company, AMTD Digital, that got the meme stock treatment during summer 2022 when it climbed 126% to give it a bigger market value than Coke and Bank of America. But Toby, this is on a completely other level. 46,000% and no one can really explain it.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, part of the reason why is that there's not a lot of shares outstanding to be traded. Of its 500 million outstanding shares, only 30 million are available to be traded. So that's about 6%. If you look at big public companies like an apple, 98% are available to trade. Tesla, 87% are available to trade. Regenerative cell, 6%. So any move just massively ripples through the entire stock as a whole. And then also there's probably some sort of short squeeze going on here. Remember when Gamestop was going upward? That's because a lot of big hedge funds had taken short positions against them. That might be happening here because a short interest as a percentage of float is almost 100% in this company. So when it starts going up, a lot of people have to buy back shares to cover their positions, which just sends it up even further. So short squeeze, low float, there's all these things going on. But yeah, not a lot to actually understand why it started going nuts in the first place.

[Neal Freyman]

There was one thing that they did earlier this week which is a 38 to 1 stock split which doesn't really raise the. It's not, doesn't change the market value at all. It decreases the individual share price. That was like the only piece of news that happened to this company in the past few years. There hasn't been a breakthrough in, in their treatments or any, anything like that. So it is just a bewildering thing in, you know, that we've just become accustomed to in the stock market since COVID started. For my second number, the office market is healing. For the first time in at least 25 years, more office space is being removed from the United States than added. According to CBRE Group, meaning that office conversions and demolitions will exceed new construction across the largest 58 U.S. markets. CBRE found 23.3 million square feet of space will be demolished or transformed to other uses by the end of this year, compared to 12.7 million square feet of new construction. It is a positive sign for an office real estate market that's been hammered by remote work and plummeting property values for empty buildings. Supply being removed from the market should boost rental prices and give a lifeline to landlords that had been panicking over office vacancy rates that shot up to a record high and still remain elevated at 19%. Meanwhile, the Office to apartment shift is trudging along just okay. Since 2016, about 33,000 apartments and condos have been created out of preexisting office space, and another 43,500 units are in the pipeline. That rate is picking up, too, thanks to government incentives for conversions, loosening of local zoning laws that enable more construction, and plunging prices for zombie office buildings. Toby, this is great news if you own an office building.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah, this was really a perfect storm of the last decade for. For creating an office space glut, because obviously federal tax breaks lured developers in to say, like, hey, come build a lot of office space. There was low interest rates, so borrowing was very cheap. Those low interest rates also created maybe an inflated demand for unprofitable startups to move into those buildings. So there was just a lot of free money spinning around where developers were saying, come in, come in, where you have all this office space, and then you toss in the rise of a remote work and everyone left the offices. So it really was just all these offices were created now are sitting empty. So appealing. The appeal of converting those into apartments is very high right now, and analysts are a little bit shocked at how quickly it's happening. They thought that this glut would be staying on the market for years, maybe even decades. But it does look like the pace is accelerating because it just makes so much economic sense to make these conversions.

[Neal Freyman]

And they have been. They are very expensive to do. And not every office can be converted into an apartment. I mean, I don't want to live here where we are in this office. But it really is thanks to those policy interventions that local governments and city governments have stepped in and said, here we're throwing money at you in order to do this, because we're not making any money in property taxes. If, if a building is completely empty and it's. And its value is decreasing. So everyone kind of has an incentive to make these conversions happening. And it really is happening at a faster pace than anyone expected. My final number is 40$800, which is how much it costs to be a Red Sox fan in 2025, including tickets, TV access and merchandise, a 262% increase from 20 years ago. In a New York Times op ed that sparked a lot of discussion, sports journalist June Lee calculated the number to highlight how following your sports team has become so expensive that it's out of reach for the regular American. Lee writes that for most of his life, sports is one of the American cultural institutions that was accessible to everyone, which was a huge public good because it fostered community and belonging. Now, he says, the fandom isn't being nurtured, it's being mined, casting blame on everyone from the leagues to owners and lawmakers for allowing sports to be turned into a wealth extraction tool for financiers and paywalled for folks like Fireman Ed. He takes particular issue with streaming services, saying their land grab for content has resulted in a fragmented viewing landscape that makes it impossible to watch your team without shelling out ridiculous sums of money. Lee found that if you subscribe to every service that carries live sports, and it's a growing list that encompasses Apple TV plus Max, Amazon Prime, YouTube TV, NBA League Pass, lots more, it would set you back over $2,600 a year. Toby, does he have a point?

[Toby Howell]

Absolutely, he has a point. Even the most ardent of sports fans turn on the TV and can't even find where their teams are playing because one game has been sold off to one network. It's no longer being aired on your local network because of blackout deals. So there really has just been this absolute, you know, dicing, slicing and dicing of the sports landscape. And you know, the point of this op ed was saying that also fractures community because it used to be something that everyone could come together and watch on TV or go see and it was affordable. But now it's this pay to play game and it's just fracturing the very culture of sports in America. Private equity probably is playing a role in that as well because maybe they don't have a great long term profit outlook. They want to extract profits from their investment, maybe not nurture the community as much. So it just really is an inconvenient time to be a sports fan, which we've all experienced, when you just want to watch, you know, the Yankees play the Red Sox and you can't find it unless you pay $20 a month.

[Neal Freyman]

For an app and you mentioned private equity. The author does point his ire at private equity, which increasingly, leagues are allowing these firms to buy stakes in their sports teams. For a long time, for decades, this was when you owned a sports team. You were just kind of a local business owner who was really rich and you wanted to buy the team for your legacy, or it was kind of this trophy purchase. Now it's, you know, these, these leagues and these teams are so lucrative that they're getting, you know, high finance to buy in. Private backed. Private equity backed entities currently own Stakes in 74 major North American sports teams. Value it at a combined $230 billion. So he, he says that that is one of the reasons why we're seeing just prices go up at a much higher rate than inflation. And it's not just streaming or tv. He also says that going to a game, just buying tickets to attend a game, is growing much, much faster than inflation. From 1999 to 2020, the average price of a seat across all sports rose roughly twice as fast as overall consumer prices. And then between May 2023 and May 2025, those ticket prices increased 20%, which is one of the biggest jumps of any category in the inflation basket.

[Toby Howell]

I thought one solution to this is a great idea. And he said Congress should take inspiration from Britain's quote crown jewel rule, which designates certain events as nationally significant and therefore have to air on TV for free. And so maybe you just slap that label on the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, Stanley cup, and make them free for everyone to watch. Because, I mean, we just saw with the current, the last Super Bowl. Fox also aired it on their streaming service, and that brought in a record audience. So people want to watch these games. Just make it easier for them, make it cheaper. Now, let's sprint to the finish with some final headlines. Up first, next time your taxi driver lays on his horn in New York City, it might not be all that effective on the car in front of you because Waymo is working to bring its driverless taxis to the Big Apple. The cars are coming back to the city next month for the first time since it mapped part of New York back in 2021. But actually, I lied about that horn thing because humans, not robots, are going to be behind the wheel. To start, New York state law doesn't allow for driverless vehicles yet, a fact that Waymo is lobbying to change. Also working to secure a permit for its vehicles to drive autonomously with a driver in the seat. Neil Waymo has already expanded into Los Angeles, Phoenix, Atlanta, Austin and other parts of the Bay Area. But if it can make it in the hustle and bustle of New York City, it can make it anywhere.

[Neal Freyman]

You said it. I mean, this is the holy grail for Waymo. It is the biggest city in the country and would just continue this breathtaking expansion that this company has been on over the past couple of years. I mean, two years ago, Waymo is doing 10,000 rides a week, which is pretty minimal. Now across all of those cities you mentioned, Phoenix, Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, the Bay area, it's doing 250,000 autonomous trips each week. It's coming to Miami and Washington D.C. it's scoping out Boston, it's scoping out New York. So it's getting up to the Northeast, away from the sunny environs. And that presents, presents new challenges. Not just the drivers and the people here, but the weather as well in the street grid here is, is certainly more complicated. And execs have owned up to that and said, yeah, like have you tried driving downtown is very confusing and maybe robots will be better at it than people because it is hard for a human as well.

[Toby Howell]

I just don't think they're prepared for the things that will be yelled at their little Waymo ears. I know Waymo don't have ears, but the obscenities, that New York is going to laugh at them, you don't want to hear those. Finally, while New York debates Chicago over who has the best pizza and Philly feuds with Boston over which is the better sports town, only one city can call itself the most livable in the world. And it is far from the United States. Copenhagen tops the world's most livable city list for 2025, dethroning Vienna, Austria. After a three year run at the top. The annual list published by the Economist intelligence unit rates 173 global cities using five categories. Health care, culture and environment, Education, infrastructure and stability. Copenhagen slid into the top spot, receiving perfect scores in education, infrastructure and stability for a grand total of 98 out of 100. Rounding out the rest of the top five are Vienna, Zurich, Melbourne and Geneva. No American city cracks the top 10 and you have to scroll all the way down to 23rd to find the first U.S. entrant. Honolulu, Hawaii. Neil, if you were wondering about New York, we ranked 69th overall, which.

[Neal Freyman]

Nice, very nice. That is probably higher than I was expecting given the affordability crisis here. I hear great things about Copenhagen. Does seem like an extremely livable place. We'll maybe have to get there soon. A few other tidbits from this report. I want to point out Canada has fallen. Calgary used to be fifth place last year. It dropped out of the top 10 this year to 18th due to a lower health care score. They said going to get an appointment in Canada at a medical clinic is like pretty much impossible. You have to wait in a long line. And you saw other jobs from from cities like Vancouver, which dropped from 7 to 10, and Toronto which went from 12th to 16th. A bunch of cities across the UK as well were dropping pretty heavily. London went from 45th to 54th, Manchester from 43rd to 52nd, and Edinburgh from 59th to 64th. I was in Edinburgh last year. It is a beautiful city. I think we should make it a little higher than 64th. But yes, a really interesting, a really interesting list here and maybe gives you some ideas of cities to visit. So the ones on the top five are all like in Switzerland and they seem extremely expensive.

[Toby Howell]

Yeah. Part of the reason why they rank so high is that the economists know that smaller cities tend to rank higher on the list. I mean, it makes sense. You can just control more when there's less people in the city. The only big city that ranked even close to the top 10 was Tokyo, which is actually the world's largest city that came in at 13. So I guess it shows that you can be this fantastically livable city. But it kind of has to happen over in Japan where they think they got things, you know, figured out.

[Neal Freyman]

That is all the time we have. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us and have a wonderful Thursday and Juneteenth. If you have thoughts on today's episode, send an email with questions, comments or feedback to Morning Brew daily@morning brew.com and just remember, on Friday we're doing a special interview episode. Let's roll the credits. Emily Milian is our executive producer. Raymond Lu is our producer. Our associate producers are Olivia Graham and Olivia Lake. Eugenia Ogu is taking a celeb shot as technical director. Hair and makeup would go split season. An MLB TV account with anyone? Devin Emery is our president and our show is a production of Morning Brew.

[Toby Howell]

Great show, Daniel. Let's run it back tomorrow. Foreign.

[Neal Freyman]

There'S something percolating at Morning Brew that we are very excited to share with you all.

[Toby Howell]

Cappuccino machine?

[Neal Freyman]

What? No. The launch of revenue brew on June 17th. We talked about this.

[Toby Howell]

We also talked about the cappuccino machine, but no one ever listens to me.

[Neal Freyman]

And continuing with that proud tradition, we're excited to partner with outreach for the launch of this new vertical outreach is.

[Toby Howell]

A single platform supercharging the entire revenue team. Their integrated AI agents help sales leaders increase productivity, make more precise decisions, and guide sellers towards activities that generate more pipe.

[Neal Freyman]

And with their help, Revenue Brew will serve up sales, strategy, operations, tech and everything in between. From the CRO's corner office to the SDR trenches. Revenue Brew serves up cross industry insights including everything from CPG secrets to cutting edge SaaS strategy.

[Toby Howell]

And while I'm still waiting for that, a cappuccino machine.

[Neal Freyman]

So not happening.

[Toby Howell]

A man can dream, Neil. But no dreaming necessary here. Go ahead and subscribe at the very real revenuebrew.com for a biweekly dose of revenue review. That's revenuebrew. Com.